Ethics and Moral Philosophy You cannot harm a religion 16 Jan 2010 Chris, at u n d e r v e r s e, has an interesting series of posts on whether or not blasphemy laws are still appropriate in a secular society [Part I, Part II, Part III]. He asks whether or not Muslims had the right to take umbrage against… Continue Reading
Epistemology Sausages, and science 6 Dec 2009 One should not see, goes the old saw, laws or sausages being made. This is also true of science, for a reason. Before something is published, scientists argue, insult each other, discuss things in casual ways and use unclear jargon and terminology that looks like, to an outsider who is… Continue Reading
Epistemology Some Sydney lectures I will miss 22 Sep 2009 Because I will be en route when they pop up: Sydney Ideas Key Thinkers Lecture Series 23 September JOHN RAWLS ON SOCIAL JUSTICEProfessor Duncan Ivison, Professor of Political Philosophy and Head of the School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry (SOPHI) John Rawls (1921-2002) has been hailed as one of the… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Arnhart on Hitler’s Ethic 9 Sep 2009 Larry Arnhart has a pretty solid review of Richard Weikert’s latest anti-Darwin guilt-by-association text linking Darwin to Hitler. However, I think he gives too much away. Continue Reading
Epistemology Quark Philosophy Blog Awards 3 Sep 200918 Sep 2017 Yes, you can vote for your favourite philosophy blog entry. In addition to a certain immodest antipodean ape, there are a number of other interesting posts I have bolded in the list beneath the fold. You choose. No pressure… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Punish the obsessive 5 Aug 20094 Oct 2017 John Wesley wrote, commenting on Acts 5:28: “They make laws and interdicts at their pleasure, which those who obey God cannot but break; and then take occasion thereby to censure and punish the innocent, as guilty.” It matters not that he was talking about the Sanhedrin; any authority will do… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Religion and well being 22 Jul 2009 A paper in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry is reviewed by the awesome Epiphenom. The authors do a horizontal study and find that fewer people in religious communities suffer depression, and a longitudinal study that suggests this is not a matter of self-selection: those in religious communities, as measured by… Continue Reading
Ethics and Moral Philosophy Evolution and morality 20 Jul 2009 Ever since Thomas Henry Huxley’s marvellous book Evolution and Ethics in 1893 (online here; it’s the Prolegomena you really want to read, though), the relationship between evolution and morality has been mooted. Spencer famously wanted to say that morality was just what was normal for a species, while Huxley argued… Continue Reading
Biology The Demon Spencer 16 Jun 200922 Jun 2018 When I first started to read philosophy and history I heard about this demon. His name was Herbert Spencer, and he was famous for three things: Incomprehensible prose Coining “Survival of the Fittest”, and Coming up with a “devil take the hindmost” laissez faire political philosophy that was called “social… Continue Reading